Bike racing for middle aged millionaires

Pretend you’ve got your act together and you reach middle age with a comfortable retirement portfolio, a modestly successful business, a paid-for house, two grown children, and a distant spouse.

What do you do for your next act? You throw it all away by picking a new hobby — road cycling!

Max the money manager gives up his business, his home, his wealth and his family after he takes up cycling in 48 and Counting, Jonathan Clements sordid tale of money, love and bicycling. And — get this — this middle aged desk jockey wants to enter and win an unsanctioned road race. Good luck with that, Max.

Although this is his first novel, Jonathan Clements long practice writing the personal finance column for the Wall Street Journal shows in a quickly paced story with a plot that moves right along, with enough detail that every middle aged cyclist can relate to.

Clements suggests his intended audience are probably men. “But,” he continues, “the most interesting reactions have come from women: They have been intrigued — and a little horrified — by the thoughts that run through the head of a 48-year-old man.” Clements then tells me his novel is not autobiographical.